Much of what the Ravens employed to frustrate the stay-at-home dad turned NFL quarterback won’t work on the team’s future opponents.

Here are a few examples:

·         The Ravens played a 443 for 3 plays, substituting Burgess for Wilson.  That might be expected with a goal line or short yardage alignment, but the Ravens used it twice on 1st and 10 and once on 2nd and 10.  The plays resulted in 2 incompletes and a 3-yard run.

·         The nickel and dime packages were used sparingly with a standard 4-DB alignment used on 2nd downs with yards to go of 12, 10, 10, 13, 19, 10, 20, 12, 9, 11, and 8.  They used 4 DBs on 3rd down with distances of 3, 13, 5, and 11.  All of those situations are nickel and dime snaps for the majority of NFL defenses.

·         After the Panthers cut the lead to 7 with an 88-yard TD pass (against 6 DBs) on the 2nd play of the 4th quarter, the Ravens would line up with 4 DBs for the next 10 defensive snaps.

Obviously, the Panthers’ personnel played a part in the defensive alignment as does fear (or lack thereof) of the no huddle.

On to the statistics, which are based on 53 defensive snaps:

Overall:

Vs. the Run:  22 plays, 120 yards, 5.5 YPC

Vs. the Pass:  31 plays, 150 yards, 4.8 YPP

Overall:  53 plays, 270 yards, 5.1 YPPA

By number of defensive backs

Short Yardage (3 DBs):  3/3, 1.0 YPPA

Standard (4 DBs):  36/140, 3.9 YPPA, 1 sack, 2 TO

Nickel (5 DBs):  8/16, 2.0 YPPA, 2 sack

Dime (6 DBs):  6/111, 18.5 YPPA

By number of pass rushers

3:  6/3, 0.5 YPP, 1 TO

4:  13/34 2.6 YPPA, 2 sacks, 1 TO

5:  10/111, 11.1 YPPA

6:  2/2, 1.0 YPPA, 1 sack

7+:  None

Individual Notes:

·         The Ravens allowed 7 runs of 6+ yards which, along with the 88-yard TD, represented the bulk of the Panthers’ offensive success.  Those 7 runs were worth an analysis of their own, but they were simply very well-blocked plays by the Panthers who cut blocked Cody, had an OL on McClain and Lewis, and got excellent lead blocks from Dante Rosario.

·         Of the 7 runs mentioned, 2 were a little different.  On the Panthers 2nd drive (Q1, 11:20), it almost appeared that Cody was an offensive lineman as he pushed 2 offensive linemen towards the OLS.  Unfortunately, McClain was also caught in traffic and did not fill, so Goodson was left with a big hole through which he ran for 13.  On the Panthers last offensive play (Q4, 0:22), Goodson ran a second straight draw and Ngata simply missed the tackle to turn a 2-yard play into 9.

·         McKinney, Jones, and Divens were all inactive again which left the Ravens light on the defensive line.  Cody played 18 non-penalty snaps, including 13 of the first 14 plays from scrimmage.  Ngata played 46 of 53 snaps, Gregg 36, Redding 29. 

·         The Ravens lined up with the same defensive linemen for long stretches.  Primarily that was Cody, Gregg, Ngata for the first 3 drives, then Gregg, Ngata, Redding for the bulk of the last 3 quarters.  That would not have been possible without a big edge in offensive snaps (67 to 53).     

·         Kruger played just 10 snaps, but recorded his first sack.  In fact it was his first tackle in 106 plays this season.  He’s contributed schematically to at least 2 other sacks and had the sack/strip at Pittsburgh nullified by penalty.  He also has 2 PDs.  Nonetheless, that is a small impression on the stat sheet for 106 snaps.

·         Hamlin was active over Ellerbe/McKinney and played the last 7 snaps defensively.  I’m sure the coaches have their reasons, but that personnel change seems a little strange in a game where the Ravens were loathe to use more than 4 DBs.

·         McClain saw his most extensive action with 41 snaps.  He’s been in the 30’s several times with a high of 38 against Buffalo, but the 77% of snaps is the highest of his career.  He’s one of the players responsible for Carolina’s success running the ball as he was on the field for each of their 7 runs of 6+ yards.

·         It was interesting to me just how few of St. Pierre’s passes targeted a potentially covered receiver.  Restated, take out the screens, the balls thrown away, and the short check downs and you only have 13 passes thrown near traffic.  That included the bomb to Gettis, both interceptions, and Suggs’ PD.  He had 6 WR screens or swing passes to a RB, 4 check downs, and 4 balls clearly thrown away.  He did not throw a pass as long as 15 yards before completing the TD to Gettis (Q4, 14:56).  He would end with 4 such passes including Reed’s interception.

·         How did Wilson end up with single coverage on Gettis’ TD (Q4, 14:56)?  Gettis lined up opposite Wilson on the left side with the ball on the right hash and the Ravens in the dime.  Prior to the snap, Landry moved up to the line of scrimmage and blitzed from the offensive right side as Nakamura blitzed from the left.  With just 2 wide receivers, the Ravens had 8 men close to the line of scrimmage with only Reed high and on the right hash.  At the snap, Carr dropped well off the line of scrimmage on the left, but whatever coverage help Wilson was expecting was not going to materialize with Gettis’ route run to the wide side of the field.  St. Pierre’s throw hit Gettis in stride and he easily outraced the Ravens’ corner to the goal line.  Had the ball been underthrown it would have likely resulted in a completion or pass interference, but probably not a TD.  After the play, Wilson and Carr had words.

·         There are multiple defensive positives to take from this game.  The Ravens still know how to dismantle a bad opponent defensively.  This game reminded me of the 2008 Cleveland and Houston games which the Ravens dominated, but only took control on the scoreboard late.  It’s nice to see the playmakers (Reed, Lewis, Suggs) make plays.  However, if forced to pick one positive, holding the Panthers to 1 of 13 on 3^rd down is a refreshing return to form.

Biggest 3 defensive plays:

·         Reed’s pick/lateral TD (Q4, 5:14)

·         Jeff King is stopped short of a 1st down (Q4, 10:27).  Following Gettis’ 88-yard TD, the Panthers forced a punt and had a chance to drive for the tying score.  On 3rd and 5 from their own 29, St. Pierre dropped back as the Ravens rushed only 3.  After several seconds of protection, St. Pierre released short left to Jeff King who was hit almost simultaneously by McClain, Wilson, and Johnson 2 yards short of the marker. 

·         Lewis’ pick-6 (Q4, 4:48).  This wasn’t big in terms of the game result, but it was nice to see Ray anticipate the route and take it to the house.